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Sound Masking Information Help Sleeping Sounds
Click here to go directly to the order page of the most popular sleep machine model, the Sleepmate 980. White Noise Definition White noise is a sound containing a blend of all the audible frequencies distributed equally over the range of the frequency band. White noise is analogous to white light which contains all the colors of the rainbow together. How to Use White Noise Because white noise contains all frequencies, it is commonly used to mask other sounds. If you are in a hotel and voices from the room next-door are leaking into your room, you might turn on a fan to drown out the voices. The fan produces a good approximation of white noise. How does this "white" sound work and why does it mask out other noise? Here is one way to think about it. Let's say two people are talking at the same time. Your brain can normally pick out one of the two voices and actually listen to it and understand it. If three people are talking simultaneously, your brain can probably still pick out one voice. However, if 1,000 people are talking simultaneously, there is no way that your brain can pick out one voice. It turns out that 1,000 people talking together sounds a lot like white noise. So when you turn on a fan to create white noise, you are essentially creating a source of 1,000 voices. The voice next-door makes it 1,001 voices, and your brain can't pick it out anymore. One thing to keep in mind when using white noise is that more is not always better - it is usually best to use just enough to help mask the offending noise, not completely overwhelm it. Top Rated White Noise Devices The mechanical devices produce a sound very close to that of a fan. The Top Rated of this type is the Marpac SleepMate. This device has been around for a long time and is by far the most popular of all sound machines. The SleepMate is a small cylinder (5.75" base diameter, 3.25" high) and produces sound mechanically (like a fan). White noise can be generated with a digital sound synthesizing device. Sound designers, with some processing and filtering, can create a multitude of effects such as wind, rain, waterfall or surf. The main consideration when choosing a digital device is if the device loops a recorded clip of sound or synthesizes its own sound. By looping we refer to a few seconds of sound that is recorded and played over and over. They try to match up the end with the beginning but if you listen carefully you can detect where the segment begins - this is irritating to some people. The better digital sound devices actually synthesize the sound instead of playing a recording, therefore no looping. The Top Rated Marpac machines synthesize their sound so there is no looping effect. HoMedics produces White Sound machines that, though they do have looping, it is hard to detect and they are less expensive than Marpac and represent a good value. For a unique approach that will work for some people (particularily those with a snoring partner or other loud sounds), Sleep Eze makes a pair of tiny hearing-aid-like devices that actually fit in your ears. |
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| If you sleep better with the aid of motor/fan sounds, then you should consider the SleepMate 980. |
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| This machine electronically produces a clean white noise that sounds like a steady rain, steady waterfall or variable surf. |
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